Wayne State increases tuition to offset rising costs

Wayne State University's Board of Governors on June 26 approved a tuition increase of 4.5% for both undergraduate and graduate students. An undergraduate, lower-division student taking advantage of flat-rate tuition will see an increase of $281 per semester compared to last year. Wayne State's housing rates for 2024-25 will not increase.

Wayne State's average undergraduate tuition and fee increases over the last three years have been the lowest among Michigan's 15 public universities and among the lowest for graduate students. The university's move last year to a flat-rate tuition pricing model allows undergraduates to enroll in between 12 and 18 credit hours for the same price, enabling faster degree completion at lower overall cost.

"The board's decision to increase tuition was difficult and only agreed to after systematic analysis and detailed discussions," said board chair Shirley Stancato. "This increase will allow Wayne State to maintain the academic excellence that our students expect."

Through a combination of federal, state, endowed and institutional funds, 59% of last fall's incoming students paid zero tuition to attend Wayne State. Overall, seventy-five percent of all undergraduates receive some financial aid to support their education.

"We have worked very hard at Wayne State to remove financial hurdles and provide multiple pathways for students to earn a degree because we know that access to top-tier higher education is the surest path to a meaningful career and positively impacting the trajectory of a family's life," said Wayne State President Kimberly Andrews Espy, Ph.D. "It certainly is true that with declines in state and federal funding over the last decades, families are investing more of their personal funds to support the costs of college. Wayne State, though, continues to provide access and success at a top-tier education for an excellent value at a research university in the heart of Detroit filled with opportunities."